Logos and No-gos: Hacking off Alan Partridge

We examine the recent Court of Appeal judgment that considers the law of privilege against self-incrimination.

In this Logos and No-gos eBulletin, we examine the recent Court of Appeal judgment that considers the law of privilege against self-incrimination (PSI), and whether the notorious private investigator Glen Mulcaire could rely on PSI in light of an exception in section 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 which provides that where proceedings involve the infringement of intellectual property rights, privilege against self-incrimination cannot be relied upon.

The Court of Appeal carried out an interesting analysis of the meaning of “intellectual property” in this context which is summarised here.